The NESsT Central-Eastern Europe Accelerator Program, with a focus on Poland and Romania, provides socially impactful enterprises with patient capital and business support. This support is tailored to enterprises’ specific needs and delivered by NESsT and industry mentors from IKEA, Cisco Foundation, and program peers.
While both Poland and Romania have made significant strides in reducing poverty over the past two decades, the challenge remains far from resolved. In Poland, over 2 million people still live in poverty, and in Romania, nearly half the population resides in rural areas, with one in five people at risk of poverty.
This program is designed specifically for enterprises that create dignified jobs for people from underserved and underprivileged communities. These include people who experience migration or displacement, small producers and artisans, youth, ethnic minorities, the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, women, small-scale farmers, informal workers, and people experiencing homelessness. The program seeks to support enterprises that aim to make a difference in their community by providing jobs directly, facilitating job placements, and/or working to improve the livelihoods of suppliers in their supply chains.
“In our programs we prioritize long-term support for entrepreneurs by providing them with stability during this crucial phase of growth and financing options on flexible terms that would be challenging for them to secure through conventional market channels.”
Daniela Staicu and Alina Țiplea co-founders of ALTRNTV:
“Thanks to the investment from NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, we were able to open the ALTRNTV store, create new employment opportunities, and secure essential quality certifications. With strategic planning and tailored support, ALTRNTV transitioned from an NGO with minimal economic activity to establishing a separate business entity. Technical assistance and mentorship have been invaluable in enhancing our production capacity to meet growing demand. Additionally, their guidance has helped us measure and document the positive impact we’ve made on the lives of underserved producers and artisans, ensuring our mission remains at the heart of what we do”.
Regional Impact
888,486
lives positively impacted
41,000+
people trained
$11.8M+ USD
invested in social enterprises
194
social enterprises supported
23,180
jobs created or maintained
as of February 2025
Key benefits of the program
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Recoverable grants from USD $35,000 to $100,000 to finance business growth activities, investment, and working capital*
*Smaller non-recoverable grants may be offered for strongly justified purposes as additional funding
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Enterprises work one-on-one with selected mentors from NESsT, IKEA, and Cisco to effectively address specific needs
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Enterprises have the opportunities to network with other program participants, sharing and gaining valuable insights from peers through both online and in-person meetings. Enterprises might also have the chance to attend sector-building events and other events delivered by NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship.
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Entrepreneurs participate in training sessions covering strategic areas, such as sales, marketing, brand development, social impact, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), environmental indicators, and financial management.
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Enterprises have the opportunity to advance their impact journeys by working with the NESsT team to establish systems for measuring social and environmental impact.
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Enterprises can gain access to other impactful organizations from across the NESsT portfolio in Poland and Romania, as well as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, leveraging business tools to tackle some of the most pressing social and environmental challenges of our time.
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Enterprises have the opportunity to share their impact, employee stories, milestones, and lessons learned through local media coverage, NESsT social media channels, videos, and events.
Entry Criteria
Impact
You are a social enterprise or micro, SME (small and medium enterprise) with a strong track record of generating positive social and environment impact.
Your enterprise is deeply committed to creating quality jobs for individuals from underprivileged communities, making this its primary impact. Additionally, your enterprise actively contributes to environmental sustainability by implementing positive practices and striving to minimize any negative impact in this area.
Your enterprise has the potential to create or support jobs for at least 60 people within the next three years (it can be through direct employment, job placement or supporting jobs creation in your direct supply chain).
Your social enterprise is committed to inclusion within your organization and has diverse representation at management level and/or open to increasing representation of people from all backgrounds and genders across their organization.
Companies that already track or are committed to monitoring their social and environmental impact and implementing impact plans to improve livelihoods, increase wages, implement sustainable policies, and advance climate action, among other impact areas.
Business
Enterprises that show growth and progress (recent annual sales must be at least USD $75,000).
A competent and skilled management team (2–4 people) with proven track record of success and ethical business practices.
Commitment from a management team representative or assigned employees to participate and engage in required program and mentoring sessions. (This person should be comfortable communicating in English, as our mentors are from an international network.)
Your business has a product or service with growing demand or potential to expand into new markets in the next 18–24 months.
If your enterprise has not yet reached break-even, it must show the potential to reach it and become profitable in the next 18–24 months.
Processes in place to include decisions of key stakeholders and good business practices (i.e., annually approved budget, financial controls, competitive procurement procedures).
Learn more about our portfolio of social enterprises
Are you ready to apply to the NESsT CEE Accelerator Program?
Tell us about your social enterprise and the impact its making in your community.
NESsT News in CEE
Do you have questions?
Contact us
Contact us at romania@nesst.org or poland@nesst.org or book a meeting with our team!
NESsT Team in Poland & Romania
About NESsT
NESsT invests in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), a segment that is responsible for over 50% of employment around the world, benefiting grassroots and underserved communities. Since 1997, NESsT has accelerated and financed over 300 enterprises to sustain more than 113,000 formal jobs for excluded women, at-risk youth, smallholder farmers, ethnic minorities, and other marginalized groups.
About IKEA Social Entrepreneurship
IKEA Social Entrepreneurship creates greater opportunities for people from vulnerable and marginalised groups to live a better everyday life. Founded in 2018, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship B.V supports social entrepreneurs through providing investments, co-creating accelerator programmes , and sharing networks and knowledge so they can reach more people and have a bigger impact.
About Cisco Foundation
Cisco Foundation envisions a world of equitable, resilient, and empowered communities where everyone can reach their full potential and thrive. Their mission is to partner with organizations to create and scale innovative digital solutions that promote a healthy planet and advance the well-being and self-reliance of underserved communities globally. They accomplish this by harnessing the breadth of Cisco’s offerings of strategic guidance, catalytic funding, technology donations, and support from the Cisco community.